


Electric Sheep

by Bestboiuwu



Category: Tron (Movies), Tron - All Media Types, Tron: Uprising
Genre: Dreams
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-28
Updated: 2020-10-28
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:13:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 614
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27242494
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bestboiuwu/pseuds/Bestboiuwu
Summary: Dreaming is a rather hard to grasp concept, if you think about it. And, of course, it doesn't help that programs don't even have sleep. If you're offline, you're offline.Your primary functions not operating, but the back of your mind still being active? In what kind of scenario could that happen?
Comments: 4
Kudos: 18





	Electric Sheep

_ T _

_ T _

  
  


_ T _

It's blazing. It's all he sees.

* * *

Flynn had explained the concept, once.

When users need to recharge, their conscious brains, the parts of them that are aware, the self, enters rest mode. But they can't shut down completely; If they did, they would derezz. So instead, the  _ unconscious _ part stays active, not perceiving anything real, not performing any functions, but thinking all the same. Sometimes you saw things, visions, make believe, with no real purpose but to keep the mind active.

He hadn't really understood it: dreaming is a rather hard to grasp concept, if you think about it. And, of course, it doesn't help that programs don't even have  _ sleep.  _ If you're offline, you're offline. 

Your primary functions, not operating, but the back of your mind still being active? In what kind of scenario could that happen?

* * *

There is a man in front of him. He knows him. He does not know him. 

"Is this really what we have to do?" He asks. He looks at the masked man across from him. The mask is his own. The man does not respond.

The room (had he been in a room?) Shifts to red, it is an old red, and he is in his cell, back in the days of the MCP, the light of the guards and the recognizers and the Master Control Program overpowering everything, everything is red, and Ram is next to him except he is not, there is no Ram. And everything is red.

"Why does it have to be us?" He asks, and the other man lets out a low rumble.

He looks down. He sees the "T" on the other man's chest. It grows brighter. It is blazing.

_ T _

  
  


_ T _

  
  
  


_ T _

* * *

He is with Flynn. He is leaning against Tron's shoulder, and it is just the two of them. The grid is young. They are safe.

Inhale. Exhale. Was breathing necessary? No. It was something they had inherited from the users. Only a form of expression. Only symbolic in purpose. 

Many things were inherited from the users. Many things were only symbolic.

"I'm sorry," he tries to say, but nothing comes out. Flynn disintegrates into voxels.

* * *

_ T _

_ T _

  
  


_ T _

* * *

He is training with Beck. He sends simulation after simulation after the younger program, and watches as Beck tries to fight back against them.

"Harder." he says. "Push yourself harder."

Beck is wearing the 'T'. Beck is burning. Argon is burning.

* * *

He is there. Clu is there. Clu is laughing. He is not.

* * *

He is in the games. He is having a fight against the other man, the one with his helmet and his body and his 'T' but not his colors, never his colors.

He deflects a disk. Another comes flying from his right, that he only just barely dodges.

He is losing. He never loses.

* * *

_ T _

_ T _

  
  


_ T _

* * *

He is drowning. This one is new. 

Breathing is  _ not  _ just a symbol. He cannot breath. He cannot breath.

He gasps for the air he would not consume, instead takes in a mouthful of liquid he does need, and he is choking. Oh, Users, he is choking.

There is a weight on his chest and he realizes that it is the weight of the entire ocean. Something shifts and it is the weight of the entire grid.

The entire grid is pressing down on him, and he is choking.

Can programs choke?

* * *

It is him. It is the other man. One of them is dead. He is not sure which one.

"This is the exact opposite of everything I ever wanted." He says. The other man rumbles. The room fades to red. Tron sees the 'T'.


End file.
